Creeping Juniper 'Jade River'

Creeping juniper 'Jade River' (Juniperus horizontalis 'Jade River') is a river of jade poured over the ground. Long, supple shoots spread into one low continuous carpet, and from a retaining wall they spill in green-blue streams that pick up warm purple half-tones by winter.

This is a plant for covering ground rather than filling a bed: it stays 15-30 cm high but spreads 1.5-3 m in ten years, so a single plant blankets several square metres of slope. It holds soil against erosion, wants full sun and dryish well-drained ground, and is hardy to -40 °C.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: Deer leave this juniper alone, and the foliage, green-blue in summer, picks up purple half-tones by winter.
• Dimensions: 0.15-0.3 m high and 1.5-3 m across at 10 years.
• Hardiness: Hardy to -40 °C (USDA zone 3).
• Light: It shows at its best in full sun; in shade the carpet thins out and loses density.
• Soil: It takes any well-drained garden soil, and a drier sandy one best of all; the one thing it will not stand is standing water.
• Watering: Moderate watering, and with age it becomes drought-tolerant, needing water only in a long spell of heat.
• Care: Care is minimal; in wet springs keep an eye out for dieback at the shoot tips.
• Landscape use: It holds slopes against erosion and dresses rockeries, retaining walls and the foot of buildings.